The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.
It is often desirable to control or monitor access to document-processing device, such as a printer or a scanner. For example, a company that deals in confidential information may wish to restrict access to any device that may be used to duplicate or print a document. As another example, a company may wish to restrict access to certain devices, such as a color printer, to only those employees having a job that requires use of the device.
One approach for restricting access to a printer involves the use of a username and password combination. Before a user may access certain functions of the printer, such as a lock print function, a user may need to submit a valid username and password to the printer. Typically, the printer provides an interface through which the user may submit his or her username and password to the printer. This approach is problematic in that it requires the user to remember his or her username and password. Also, typing in a username and password combination into the interface requires a certain amount of time and effort, which may result in frustration over time.